Cop gets $500K bail for causing death of 15-year-old schoolboy

– mother of dead teen cries for justice

A Police Constable was on Tuesday granted $500,000 bail after she was charged with causing the death of 15-year-old Navindra Mahes following an accident along the Success, East Coast Demerara (ECD) highway last week.
Yonelle Cumberbatch, 35, of Annandale Housing Scheme, ECD, appeared before Senior Magistrate Abigail Gibbs at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court, where she was not required to plead to a causing death by dangerous driving charge.
Nevertheless, she was granted bail and ordered to return to court on January 6, 2026.

It was reported that on Thursday, October 30, at around 07:30h, Mahes was struck down by motorcar PAB 214, driven by Cumberbatch, while using the pedestrian crossing along the Success Public Road.
Mahes from Le Ressouvenir, ECD, was picked up in an unconscious state and taken to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, where he was pronounced dead.
It was reported that Cumberbatch was proceeding along the northern carriageway in the southern driving lane at a time when a temporary third lane was in effect. Video footage showed Mahes standing on the median facing north before stepping onto the crossing, at which point he was struck by the left front side of the vehicle.
Mahes was heading to school at the time of his demise. He was a student of Annandale Secondary School. He was cremated on Sunday.

However, at court, Vimlawattie Christina Arjun, the mother of the teenager, was not pleased that the person responsible for her son’s death was granted bail.
“Who’s gonna see to me? I lost my son. She [The Woman Police Constable] will go and see her child, but I cannot go home and see mine. How is [that] fair? Tell me how is [that] fair? I was expecting her to go to jail. She does not deserve to come [out]. My son [got hit] on the pedestrian crossing; he wasn’t wrong. And these so-called police are saying 500k bail,” she said, crying in agony.
Following the accident, the Traffic Department ordered the immediate discontinuation of the third lane system on both the East Coast and East Bank of Demerara, which had been introduced to ease rush-hour traffic.
Meanwhile, as part of her bail conditions, Cumberbatch is required to lodge her passport with the court and report to the Police on the first Monday of every month until the determination of the matter.